Scientists discover way to grow back tooth enamel naturally

HONG KONG: Researchers in China hope to regrow tooth enamel without using fillings and start trials in people within one to two years.Enamel, a highly mineralised substance that acts as a barrier to protect the tooth, can become susceptible to degradation, especially by acids from food and drink.Despite being the hardest tissue in the body, it cannot self-repair, leaving people exposed to cavities and in need of fillings.But scientists in China have found that mixing calcium and phosphate ions - two minerals which are found in enamel - with the chemical trimethylamine in an alcohol solution causes enamel to grow with the same structure as teeth.The discovery has not yet been proven to work in the “hostile environment” of the mouth, but experts say regrown tooth enamel may be tested in people in the near future.When the mixture was applied to human teeth, it repaired the enamel layer to around 2.7 micrometres of thickness. It also achieved the same structure of natural enamel within 48 hours. Dr Zhaoming Liu, a co-author of the study from Zhejiang University in China, said:“Our newly regenerated enamel has the same structure and similar mechanical properties as native enamel. “We hope to realise tooth enamel regrowth without using fillings which contain totally different materials and we hope, if all goes smoothly, to start trials in people within one to two years.”He said past attempts to regrow enamel by using a range of materials such as composite resins, ceramics and amalgam had failed to achieve permanent repair because of the imperfect combination between these foreign materials and the native enamel.

from The News International - World https://ift.tt/2ZuygLB